Tigers Sniff the Rose episode 25 recap: The fall of Yu Cheng'an

In short

The Crown Prince's coup turns around. Yan Shang brings Meng Zaishi to the rescue and exposes a fake Emperor, the princess arrives with an old edict naming Yu Cheng'an's crimes, and Meng Zaishi captures him. Liu Wenji kills Yu Cheng'an's man to save the Emperor, and Chunhua gives birth to a son.

What happens in episode 25

The Crown Prince and Yang Si cut their way out and collapse in the woods outside the city, covered in blood. The Crown Prince apologizes for dragging him into this. Yang Si says he has never regretted fighting the eunuchs. They light a signal flare to call the Jinwu Guard commander Lu Yan, knowing it may bring Yu Cheng'an's man Qiu Shuo instead. It does. Qiu Shuo arrives with troops, having already killed Mu Xianqing, and the two get ready to die fighting. Then Yan Shang rides in with Meng Zaishi, who has come over to the Crown Prince's side. As the two forces clash, Yan Shang gets the Crown Prince and Yang Si away.

Lu Yan arrives, and the Crown Prince orders him to storm the traveling palace. Wei Qiao shouts that the Crown Prince is a traitor and that the Emperor, resting inside, has ordered his arrest. Lu Yan hesitates. Yan Shang calls out that the man in the palace isn't the Emperor but an impostor, and the Crown Prince quickly backs him. Then the princess gallops up holding an edict. She saw her father wasn't in his palace, knew something was wrong, and raced home for an order he had drafted years ago. She reads out Yu Cheng'an's crimes and orders the Jinwu Guard to go in.

Wei Qiao sees it's over and urges Yu Cheng'an to fall back and join the Shence Army. Before leaving, Yu Cheng'an tells Liu Wenji and the eunuch Chen Lian to clean up, and signals that they should kill the Emperor. Chunhua, held there, has gone into labor. Liu Wenji unties her and lays her on a bed. When Chen Lian raises his blade over the Emperor, Liu Wenji stabs him again and again until he is dead. Then he reports to Yu Cheng'an that he has killed the Emperor himself and that Chen Lian fainted at the sight of blood. Yu Cheng'an nods without checking.

Chunhua gives birth to a boy, and Yu Cheng'an has Liu Wenji carry the baby and bring her along as they flee. With pursuers closing in, Wei Qiao takes an arrow meant for Yu Cheng'an and falls from his horse, saying this is as far as he can go. Liu Wenji and Chunhua get separated from the others and sit down under a tree with the crying baby. Leaning on him, she imagines going back to Lingnan with him and the child and living under new names in some village where no one knows them.

Meng Zaishi catches Yu Cheng'an, who admits he has lost. The Crown Prince and the princess find the Emperor safe. The princess tracks down the deer and sets it free, and Yan Shang, watching from a distance, thinks that she is free too. Back at the palace she and Chunhua weep in each other's arms. Yan Shang praises Liu Wenji for saving the Emperor. Liu Wenji admits he hesitated, but says Yu Cheng'an saw Chunhua and her child only as tools, and he did it to win them safety and a future. When Chunhua asks what became of Yu Cheng'an, the princess tells her: he lost.

Why it matters

Episode 25 ends Yu Cheng'an's hold on the court, the goal the princess has worked toward since the start, and gives Liu Wenji an unexpected rescue of the Emperor.

Based on the episode synopsis, summarized in our own words: TVmao (电视猫) episode synopses